Carlos Poyares

One of the most important living artists in the choro genre, Carlos Poyares has recorded over nine solo albums and participated in countless others as a sideman. As an actor and flutist, Poyares worked in nine films.

As a member of the third generation of a family of musicians, Poyares learned the rudiments of flute with his mother, a concerto player. At five, he was given a tin flute. Three years later, he ran away from home to work in a circus, where he worked as a trapeze artist and several other jobs. Leaving the circus, Poyares worked as a flutist for the Rádio Espírito Santo (Vitória). In 1953, Poyares moved to Rio de Janeiro and worked for several radio stations. In 1957, he substituted Altamiro Carrilho in the Regional do Canhoto (at Rádio Mayrink Veiga). Poyares worked in several nightclubs of Rio and São Paulo while recording as a session musician at the same time and participating in the historic show O Samba Pede Passagem with the Opinião group. He recorded his first album in 1965, Som de Prata, Flauta de Lata, which was awarded for his ingenious use of his tin flute in complex arrangements and improvisations. In 1994, Poyares toured Europe as a soloist, performing in France, Spain, Holland, and Portugal.